Earthquake jolts central Philippines

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A powerful earthquake struck a central Philippine region today, trapping a family in a collapsed house, damaging other houses and a seaport and prompting people to dash outdoors for safety.

Roads were cracked in Cataingan, the coastal town nearest the epicenter, according to Rino Revalo, a Masbate provincial administrator, and initial images of the quake aftermath.

Revalo told ABS-CBN network that a threestory house collapsed in Cataingan as the ground shook and trapped a retired police officer and his family. Rescuers scrambled to save them, he said.

“People should avoid returning immediately to damaged structures,” he said.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the 6.6 magnitude quake hit about 3 miles from Cataingan at a depth of about 13 miles.

Renato Solidum, who heads the government institute, said there was no threat of a tsunami from the earthquake, which was set off by movement in the Philippine Fault. The quake was felt in several provinces across the central Visayas region.

The Philippines lies in the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of faults around the Pacific Ocean where most of the world’s earthquakes occur. It’s also lashed by about 20 typhoons and storms each year, making it one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries.

A magnitude 7.7 quake killed nearly 2,000 people in the northern Philippines in 1990.

Philippine National Red Cross / John Mark Lalaguna photo via AP Debris is scattered at a house after a 6.6 magnitude quake struck in Cataingan, Masbate province, central Philippines today. A powerful and shallow earthquake struck a central Philippine region today, prompting people to dash out of homes and offices but there were no immediate reports of injuries or major damage.